“I truly apologize to the victim and to the family,” Daniyal Khan said during his sentencing, according to WHO13.com.
The Michigan man is now appealing his 20-year prison sentence for the grooming and abduction of a 12-year-old girl in Waterloo, Iowa. Khan was convicted by a jury for actions that previously triggered an AMBER Alert for the child, WHO13.com reported.
The case involved Khan traveling from Wisconsin to Iowa after communicating with the girl via Snapchat. Prosecutors established that Khan waited outside the child’s residence before picking her up and driving her back to Michigan, according to CBS2 Iowa.
The legal proceedings highlighted a sharp divide between the defendant’s courtroom statements and the perceptions of the victim’s family.
While Khan told the court he understood that “ownership and having empathy is key to moving forward,” his apology did not resonate with the girl’s father. According to CBS2 Iowa, the father stated that he watched the defendant “contradict himself, lie, and shift the blame” during closing arguments.
“He has no remorse for what he did, until today was the first time that I’ve heard an apology,” the father said, according to CBS2 Iowa.
The impact of the crime extended beyond the immediate abduction, altering the daily lives of the victim’s family members. The girl’s mother told the court that the home, which once felt safe for their five children, now feels like a place where she must “constantly look over [her] shoulder.”
She added that it feels as though “everyone knows our address now,” according to CBS2 Iowa.
In addition to the 20-year prison term, a judge ordered Khan to register as a sex offender. He is also required to pay $430 in fines and civil penalties, according to CBS2 Iowa.
The girl was located and returned to her home in Iowa following the incident, according to both reporting outlets.
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